Major Differences Between Silent Hill Betrayal and Obversion Novels

Development of Act 1 for Silent Hill: Obversion is going well, although I should have been much further by now. All locations for the Act have been marked, and the main story leading up to the main location for the Act has been mapped. I’m slightly more excited for Obversion than I was for Betrayal, as I am journey into new territory. But more on that another time for my Patreon subscribers, where I will reveal more details on some of the characters featured in the upcoming horror novel.

By working through this development, I have been able to determine some of the main elements that will differ from the first novel, and I wanted to share them with you today.

1. Protagonist

Besides the fact that the main protagonist will obviously be a new character, Obversion switches to a female lead as opposed to the male lead in Betrayal, namely Trevor. Her name is Cassandra Sanders, with a dark past in her family more twisted than Trevor could ever have imagined. There is absolutely no link between Trevor and Cassandra though, but there is a small background link between Cassandra and one of the other characters from Betrayal, which forms the background plot to the 7 book series.

Cassandra’s story also brings forth some more events from Betrayal that were only alluded to, while forming a story on its own. If you missed Betrayal, that’s alright. There are only small nuances you will miss out on for now. However, by book 5 in the series, namely Silent Hill: Massacre, it is hoped you would have read the first 4 books by then to be able to work out what’s happening in the background.

2. Creatures

The main theme for Betrayal was utilising the familiar. I wanted Silent Hill gamers and fans to see some similarities from the games, specifical Silent Hill 1 – 4. Therefore Bishop Pyramid was brought in as a new executor of justice, with similarities to Pyramid Head. However, Obversion will have a new executor, one that you’ve never seen before. We are now moving away from the familiar into brand new territory.

In Betrayal, Trevor benefitted from his mythological studies in understanding what the creatures were that he faced. This made his task incredibly easier, but he did not realise that it was from these studies that he and Caroline shared that the monsters were formed in Silent Hill.

In Obversion, there will be no mythological based creatures, as this was unique to Trevor. The creatures in Obversion will be unique to Cassandra and her family around which the entire tale revolves. There is also a special character returning from Betrayal around which some of the creatures will also be based. Cassandra shares a special relationship with this person. But more on that to my Patreon subscribers.

3. Locations

As mentioned before, Betrayal was set against the familiar, and locations from Silent Hill 1 – 4 were used as the main settings in the novel. Silent Hill 1’s Old Silent Hill, Central Silent Hill and Silent Hill Resort were utilised, with Midwich Elementary being the main location for Act 1, Alchemilla Hospital for Act 2 and Silent Hill 2’s Lakeview Hotel at the beginning of Act 3. However, I switched this up a bit when I created Suicide Manor and the Maze (not to be confused with the Haunted Mansion from Silent Hill 3). Trevor also lived in South Ashfield Heights, as introduced in Silent Hill 4.

In Obversion, there is more a focus on creating new locations within Silent Hill locations already introduced. Cassandra’s home, her father’s Ranch, will be the main setting for the backdrop story and the final location, which is set in Silent Hill’s South Vale area. Act 1 of Obversion will start in known locations, but the main setting for the Act will take place in a building you may have passed by in Silent Hill 2, which will now be open for access and completely designed from scratch by myself.

Act 2 and Act 3 locations have also been planned out. Act 2 will have a familiar location as the main setting, while Act 3 will have two brand new locations and settings. I am not comfortable creating a whole new suburb of Silent Hill at this point, as the series is still young. Remember, there are 7 books in this initial series, and we still have a long way to go.

4. Items

I made Trevor’s life incredibly easy in Betrayal, even if it may not seem so to readers. I provided him not only with adequate melee weapons, but with an arsenal of firearms too. Which is in keeping with Silent Hill games. It was best to start off like this, so that later Silent Hill novels would become more and more difficult.

Cassandra will have it slightly harder to make it through the streets and locations in Silent Hill. If Betrayal was easy mode, if you will, then Obversion is medium difficulty. There will be much less of a reliance on firearms and more on wit and skill that will improve as the novel progresses. As a matter of fact, she will have to pay close attention and learn from experiences in the early stages in order to progress through to the end. This is in stark contrast to Betrayal, where everything was handed on a golden platter to Trevor.

5. Resurrection and Transformation

It was great fun bringing in the revised Halo of the Sun in order to have the resurrection ability for Trevor. I never thought one could put a ‘saving point’ in a novel, but from the feedback I received it seems I pulled it off. Following the official Silent Hill lore of the games, it was easy to interchange the red, blue and black Halo and use them for different purposes, specifically for switching between the foggy Silent Hill and Otherworld.

I’m not completely doing away with this resurrection technique as yet, as these is one special trick I want to pull with it before I remove it from the series (if I remove it from the series). However, Obversion’s main focus shifts to regeneration and rejuvenation instead, making it more important for Cassandra to stay alive. Trevor had way too much play with being resurrected, meaning he could use trial and error. It was only towards the end when he realised that resurrection was no longer an option that the suspense really kicked in. Sorry Cassandra… it’s do or die now.

One final word on transformation to the Otherworld. The Halo will still be around, but in a new form and will not be the main construct by which Cassandra travels to the Otherworld. She will actually have an ally in the Otherworld that will assist in the shift to Otherworld, which becomes critical for the progression of the story from Act 1 to Act 2.

And that’s about it for now. I have already designed all the maps and floor plans for Act 1, as well as developed all the creatures and puzzles for the Act. All that remains for Act 1 now is the development of all the events in the main location before progression to Act 2.

Have a dose of what life is really like living here – from Turkish in 1000 easy lessons to learning the secrets to making the perfect kebab! Highs or lows this is our random observations from the melting pot of crazy that is my life in Mersin.